The Righteous Path

1996 - Jerry Gazer is 14 years old. He loves to write stories and gets hives when he doesn't. Unfortnately, nobody seems to share his taste for fantasy. Lucie Shepherd is also 14. Daughter of a French woman and step-daughter of an American, she evolves in a coutry where she doesn't belong and sees in Jerry an outcast, just like her. Jerry is writing the story of a knight and Lucie wants to read it. Jerry agrees. Lucie then discovers that the knight is in fact a lady knight and Lucie is her name. The two soulmates meant to find each other finally connect. But Lucie's family has to move to San Diego. Jerry gives his notebook to Lucie as a gift. The lady knight story isn't finished, but Lucie will know the end one day. That's Jerry's promise. That evening, something terrible happens to Jerry. PRESENT DAY - Lucie works nights in a convenience store in San Diego. Freddy, a homeless guy in his mid-fifties, keeps her company most of the time. He lost his wife and daughter in a car accident a long time ago. In other words, Lucie leads a boring and unsurprising life. Until the day when she and Jerry find each other back fortuitously. Jerry suffers from giant hives and edemas since the day Lucie left. No medical or rational explantion. Jerry died once for several minutes. His incursion to the other side was surprisingly peaceful. Jerry became a recluse since then. For her part, Lucie was married to a violent husband and ended it the day she fought back. She also tells Jerry that she took acting lessons a while ago, thinking that he'd be a director by now. Jerry didn't keep his promise. The more they talk, the more Jerry's hives fade away magically. Lucie then offers to Jerry a job at the convenience store. And Lucie has a surprise for Jerry: his old notebook. The opportunity for Jerry to fulfil the promise he made back in the days. Jerry will do his best. Unsuccessfully. The more he tries, the more Jerry gets upset. And what should happen happens. The hives are back. Jerry dies, twice, then falls into a coma without a chance to wake up. At least, the hives disappeared. But against all odds, Jerry returns. But the Jerry who comes back isn't exactly the Jerry who left. He's kind of absent and leaves doctors puzzled. Further exams show nothing alarming. Lucie finally brings Jerry home. But everything goes to worse. Jerry's journey to the other side wasn't peaceful this time. A bald kid was there and had a blast watching him suffer. Jerry becomes out of hand and it's more than Lucie can take. She has to leave Jerry to his own fate. Jerry must find his path back. Lucie tells everything to Freddy who confesses that he died for a few minutes the night he lost his family. But unlike Jerry, he was on his own when he came back. The bond that ties Jerry to Lucie will make the difference. For his part, Jerry wakes up with 2 surprises. His hives are back and an unexpected visitor came to pay him a visit. The bald kid, is here. The physical incarnation of Jerry's lost dreams is writing in Jerry's old notebook and finishes what Jerry was unable to do: writing the end of the lady knight story. But his dreams are also full of rage and resentment. Jerry gave up on them and that's something they can't pass up. So they beat him up relentlessly for decades, triggering his hives and edemas until Jerry figures out and does what needs to be done. Writing is his salvation. So Jerry begins to write against the clock. And the more Jerry writes, the more his hives begin to fade away. The following night, Jerry shows up at the store in order to regain Lucie's trust and love. Lucie agrees to read the end of the lady knight story. To her great surprise and much to her relief, she finds out that her alter ego finally got the end she deserved. But even more so. Jerry wrote an entire script in a single night. The screenplay of their story and their love. “The Righteous Path” is born. Jerry finally paid his debt and Lucie quits her job. Time for them to write a new chapter.